THE BOOK: 10 YEARS OF Y-3

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THE BOOK: 10 YEARS OF Y-3

TEXT PATRIK SANDBERG

THE WORLD'S PREMIER HIGH-FASHION SPORT LABEL RINGS IN ITS 10TH BIRTHDAY WITH A LIMITED-EDITION, HYPERKINETIC, TOTALLY UNAVAILABLE, MUST-HAVE BOOK

A$AP Rocky has a few thoughts on Y-3. "For me I feel like Y-3 defines my fashion," he writes in the epilogue of 10 YEARS OF Y-3: THE BOOK. "It has the high-end edge but it still reminds you of sports street wear. And that's my world, there."

It's as prosaic a personal observation as an arbiter of taste could have for a label that connects to the individual by connecting the dots of comfort, movement, and luxury. If I could venture to add something to Rocky's statement, it would be that it isn't just his world, right there—it's everybody's. The aesthetic language of Yohji Yamamoto and his decade-long collaboration with adidas has achieved a universal scope, sending ripples through the entire industry and long-projecting the titanic shift of luxury goods toward activewear. Y-3 has paved the way for many brands and collaborations that have surfaced in its wake: adidas has gone on to forge collaborations with Stella McCartney, Raf Simons, Jeremy Scott, and Rick Owens, to name a few. Alexander McQueen famously took to the streets with Puma. Bernhard Willhelm's work with Camper owes a gratitude, as does the Yeezus sneaker, Kanye West's collaboration with Nike (whose seasonal Gyakusou collection with Jun Takahashi flies off the shelves). Where would emerging labels like Astrid Anderson, Hood By Air, Nasir Mazhar, Telfar, and Shaun Samson be without the elastic influence that adidas and Yamamoto cast over the younger generations? Y-3, to put it bluntly, is the mother.

And she's only 10 years old.

To celebrate a decade of epic shows, vital campaigns, and iconic collections that have ranged from hypercolorful to darkly poetic, Y-3 is unveiling 10 YEARS OF Y-3: THE BOOK, designed and art directed by PL Studio, the consultancy founded by Stefan Pietsch and Georgina Lim. A carefully curated mix of "chaotic" images, the book is an immensely personal look back at the inspiration and the iconography of Y-3. "Sifting through the archives of Y-3 has taken us on a journey through all imaginable sartorial interpretations of sportswear," Pietsch and Lim said in a statement. "Y-3 forged new paths for others to follow. It's a creative partnership that has defined a new genre in fashion and inspired those who have been fortunate enough to work with the brand."

To those fortunate ones, the book is a special sort of artifact: printed in a limited-edition of 2000, it will not be for sale, but gifted to brand ambassadors and collaborators through the 2013 holiday season. For those dismally left outside this enclosed loop, the book will be on view at all Y-3 boutiques, and is vieweable on Y-3.com. Check out product shots above, and view the book in full at Y-3.com/BOOK.